At a recent doctor’s appointment, my provider asked me about how much alcohol I drink. Honestly, it depends.
My husband and I host patio cocktail parties in the summer. We hit a winery now and then. I’m a big fan of holiday mimosas. No big deal; I can take it or leave it. But as a 65-year-old with a history of cancer, the statistics were clear and worth a warning. Her advice: don’t drink at all, or limit yourself to an occasional cocktail. Margarita Mondays are going to have to be alcohol-free for me.
I was surprised because I hadn’t kept up with the latest data, but I checked with medical friends, and they’d been seeing the same reports. Women are far less able to tolerate alcohol than men, and the risks increase dramatically as we age and develop other health conditions.
-Marie Elium
Here’s more information from the National Association of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The takeaways:
If you choose to drink alcohol, drink in moderation. This helps reduce your risk of alcohol-related health problems. Women should drink no more than one drink in a single day and no more than seven drinks per week.
The same holds for all adults 65 and older, regardless of gender.
Do not binge drink. Binge drinking means drinking four or more drinks on one occasion for females and all adults age 65 and older.
Research has shown an important association between alcohol consumption and breast cancer—even one drink per day can increase a woman’s risk for breast cancer by 5% to 15% compared to women who do not drink at all.
Why Do Women Face Higher Risks?
Studies show that women start to have alcohol-related problems sooner and at lower drinking amounts than men for multiple reasons. On average, women weigh less than men. Also, alcohol resides predominantly in body water, and pound for pound, women have less water in their bodies than men. This means tha,t after a woman and a man of the same weight drink the same amount of alcohol, the woman’s blood alcohol concentration (the amount of alcohol in the blood) will tend to be higher, putting her at greater risk for harm. For example, research suggests that women are more likely than men to experience hangovers and alcohol-induced blackouts at comparable doses of alcohol. Other biological differences may contribute as well.
So, that’s the word. Drink or don’t. The choice is always yours, but knowing the risks is vital to making smart decisions about your health.
